


on my honor, on my heart

by asterspire



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Can be read as pre-slash, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Noctis is 8 and Ignis is 10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 10:39:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9177871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asterspire/pseuds/asterspire
Summary: “I’ll always be here.” He said it almost automatically, but that made it no less true, and the promise settled weightily over the room.Noctis met his eyes then, for the first time since he was hospitalized. Even as he was being comforted there was something kind in his gaze, and it made Ignis want to smile.“I know you will.”(Set around the timeframe of Platinum Demo, after Noctis has been severely injured by the Marilith.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from Nino and Jaffar's support conversation in Fire Emblem 7. Standard disclaimers apply.

He remembers the first time it happens, when the weight of the stars had finally sent his boisterous young charge spiraling and brought back a shell of a boy whose black clothes were now more like mourning than anything.  
The car door had opened to let out its injured passenger, and nothing had ever really been the same after that. 

Noctis was still a little slip of a thing, eyes downcast and complexion pallid in a way that gave the impression he was seeing nothing and everything at once. Ignis’ heart gave a funny twist at this- neither broken nor sickly were words he ever wanted people to associate with their prince, and yet the harsh reality stared back at him in the form of three diagonal slashes.

\------  
“Noct.”

Noctis turned to him, unsurprised. His sleep clothes cling to his ankles, belying bare feet, and Ignis remembers tightening his grip on the glass of water he had spirited from the kitchens, and thinking, really.

“It’s all right, Noct. I was just wondering where you were going at this hour.”

“I,” Noctis cast his gaze downward a moment, the slide of dark eyes flashing almost guiltily in the night. “I was going outside. For some fresh air.”

Ignis gave a low hum in response. He supposed that that accounted for the scarf wrapped snugly around Noctis’ neck, cashmere ends nearly dragging on the floor. Why Noctis had thought that the scarf alone would protect him from Insomnia’s chills, however, was beyond him, and made Ignis bite back a fond expression.

“Then it won’t do for you to go alone, will it? I’ll join you.” Noctis’ eyes remained unreadable, but Ignis suspected that hidden behind the tuck of the scarf was a signature pout.

Ignis graced him with a practiced smile in return. His thoughts had flashed briefly to Noctis in the library some weeks back tugging his sleeve, asking in a suspiciously neutral voice to borrow a book he’d seen him reading. 

“Come now, Noct, I can't be the worst company to...go stargazing with, is it?”

Noctis nodded, accepting the change of pace easily, as if he’d known Ignis would get it immediately. He probably had.

“Let’s go then.”

Ignis took a moment to ignore the voice in his head telling him exactly how much trouble they would be in come morning, instead appreciating the sliver of bossiness that had restored itself in his young charge. He decided to be daring.  
“If you’ll allow me to get your coat for you first?”

Ignis asked it in a way that makes it clear the request was not a question, and took only the smallest amount of amusement in Noctis’ sullen expression.

\-----

Noctis, prone and shuddering in a hospital bed. The livid marks of a wound clawing it's way diagonally across his back, edges curling into scar tissue.

Regis had been inseparable from the prince since they’d arrived back- silent and dignified as he bent over Noctis’ bedside, mourning his wife’s death, his son’s trauma, and probably something else that had less to do with circumstance and more to do with fate.

After some twelve odd hours passed and Noctis had awoken again to the news of his mother, he’d been shocked into silence. He looked out the window for a few hours more, eyes vacant and not looking at anything in particular, and Ignis thought it should be obvious that the prince was not so taken with the Insomnia skyline as he was wanting to be anywhere and anyone but a frail child stuck in a hospital bed missing his mother.

And Ignis had watched Noctis, had been in the room since the prince had been rushed in for emergency treatment among a frenzy of castle staff that had all but kicked out anyone without direct relation to the prince. Ignis had known when he was expected to back down, but he also had known his duty, so it was with straight posture and a firm gaze that he’d said, “I have a right to be here.”

No one bothered him after that- he’d been left to his own devices of watching the tired sad line of King Regis’ back as set aside the bed, and of watching Noctis struggle under the weight of his own world as Ignis’ heart wrenched.

He had the strangest urge to hug him, as if it'd fix anything. But he had a feeling that Noctis wouldn’t appreciate his back being touched right now, if the fresh wounds were anything to go off on, so Ignis settles for quietly claiming the bedside chair after King Regis moved to leave. 

They shared an understanding glance.

\-----

The painkillers didn’t always help. Too many nights Noctis had waken up in a cold sweat, hissing in agony, and Ignis wished desperately that he had been trained more extensively in medicine, that he’d been able to do something-

His useless self-doubt is pushed away as his body responded automatically, rubbing Noctis’ shoulders gently and speaking in hushed tones. He offered him a glass of water and Noctis’ shook his head defeatedly, as Ignis had expected him to. Ignis helped his shaking body sit up properly as his thumb rubbed comfortingly into Noctis’ forearms. 

It had been a nightmare, probably, if Noctis’ widened pupils were any indication.

“...Do you want to talk about it?” He was gentle with the question, unwilling to break any other part of this boy.

“No.” 

Ignis’ heart sank just a little bit.

“...Maybe later.”

Ignis swallowed over the lump in his throat.

“I’ll always be here.” He said it almost automatically, but that made it no less true, and the promise settled weightily over the room.

Noctis met his eyes then, for the first time since he was hospitalized. Even as he was being comforted there was something kind in his gaze, and it made Ignis want to smile.

“I know you will.”

Minutes of silence passed, with Noctis fidgeting with a corner of his blanket and Ignis continuing his impromptu massage before Noctis gave a barely noticeable yawn. Ignis gently helped Noctis recline back onto the bed and was about to sit back in his own chair when he noticed his charge watching him.

So he rested a hand over Noctis’, soothing and secure in his grip. It took only a few moments for the beneath his own to flip over, with Noctis curls his fingers possessively before pulling the blanket up to his nose and letting his eyelids flutter close. 

\-----

It was routine by now. Ambling along silent-footed atop the Citadel’s paved floors, and slipping onto one of the upper balconies. The one the frequented housed no garden or anything else to garner attention, making it blessedly unoccupied even in the daytime.

Noctis had stopped being stubborn about neglecting his jacket after that first time, and Ignis was dressed properly too, so it wasn’t cold but only mildly uncomfortable as they sat on the weathered stone benches and peered upwards. 

Ignis spared a glance at Noctis, and it was by no trick of the night that Noctis’ eyes were unfocused in a good way- the kind that makes the barest of light to float in his gaze, and the barest hint of wonder to grace his features. 

Ignis allowed a small, contented sigh. 

They never said much during these excursions; they didn’t have to. And he’d taught Noctis the few stars that can be easily seen from above Insomnia’s urban haze, so there was little point discussing those. 

So they simply indulged in the sight for a few minutes, contemplative. Except it must’ve been more than a few minutes, because soon Noctis started slumping against him with half-lidded eyes.

That too was routine.

“Noct,” Ignis coaxed, gently but urgently, even though he knew the words were futile. “We can’t sleep out here, and I can't carry you all the way back to your room-”

Noctis made a non-committal noise and allowed more tension to drain from his body.

“-t’s comfortable.” And then he promptly buried his face in Ignis’ shoulder.

And Ignis was floored at that, as he usually was, as the combination of the relaxed environment and the sudden contact left him at a loss, and an “Alright then”, escaped his mouth before he could even think twice. 

\-----

Seeing Noctis sleep was reassuring somehow- it allowed Ignis’ thoughts to grind to a halt after the first news of the tragedy had sent them spinning off the metaphorical axel, and- Noctis was peaceful like this. Not plagued by the memories lurking in the dark shadows of his eyes, not left to wither beneath the pitying gazes of adults: he was safe. 

The clearest thing about their first encounter four years had been the prince’s energy- the spirit of his smile. Ignis had found himself thinking, more and more often these days that he would make that his friend would want for nothing if he could only see that smile again. 

Ignis heard the sound of the door latch clicking and he rose to his feet in a bow as King Regis entered the room. 

“Sit, Ignis,” dismissed Regis. Ignis did so, watching as the king took the seat at Noctis’ bedside. Regis fixed him with a stare that was level but not unkind.

Ignis’ thoughts raced. To deliver a one-on-one report to the king wasn’t uncommon, but this time he’d been unprepared.

“The prince has been sleeping for the past few hours, but we were sure that he had drank enough water and medicine before, and, um, the doctor wants to change his diet-”

Regis shook his head gently, giving a low chuckle as Ignis’ hasty speech trailed off uncertainly.

“You’ve done well in looking after my son these past few days.” The words seemed spontaneous to Ignis, and he could only blink.

“...as you always have, and I’m certain you always will. I could think of no one better to entrust Noctis to.”

Ignis swallowed, unprepared for the sudden praise. 

“Thank you, your Majesty. I’ll do my best.”

\-----

Ignis had realized fairly early into their excursions that allowing Noctis to sleep on his shoulder was a Very Bad Idea, what with it posing a very high percentage of the crown prince slipping from the bench and cracking his skull, so he’d taken to bringing a blanket with them and laying it beneath the prince’s head as Noctis was allowed to stretch out over the whole bench.

From there all that was left was to he sit back against the stone bench and glances at the steady rise and fall of Noctis’ chest, and then watch the stars until there weren't stars anymore and the dawn crept in lazy, permeating rays and reflections of light on the city’s tallest skyscrapers. It was so easy then, while gazing out over the whole of Insomnia, to get contemplative, and to treasure the small, secure piece of it he’d been trusted with.

But then it was about time to rouse the prince, with the pads of Ignis’ fingers light on Noctis’ wrist and all but dragging the sleep-addled boy back to his quarters. They made it through without incident, and soon Noctis was safe and secure in his bed, where the chamberlain would find him in another hour or two. Ignis opened the door to leave, hoping he wouldn’t be caught exiting the prince’s room-

“Ignis.” 

At the sound of his name, he turned around slowly to face Noctis, eyes questioning.

“Something the matter, Noct?”

Noctis shook his head, rubbing his eyes. “It’s just-” a yawn, “I had a dream.”

“A good one?” Ignis was already smiling.

Noctis nodded. 

“We were all grown up, and we were traveling the world together. Isn’t that weird?”

Ignis laughed, just a little.

“Anything else you remember?”

Noctis tilted his head in concentration. “There were two other people with us. But I don’t know who they were.”

Ignis hummed contemplatively.

“Maybe-”

“-Noctis can tell you all about it at breakfast,” continued a voice that wasn’t his own. 

Ignis turned in silent resignation to the pleasant expression of King Regis. 

Noctis could only offer an apologetic shrug.


End file.
